Cylindrical tubes having a dispensing nozzle at one end and a piston at the opposed end which is slidable axially in the tube to dispense a fluid from the tube are in widespread use. Various piston configurations have been utilized to effectively dispense the fluid from the cartridge, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,115,591; 2,920,797; 3,066,836; and 3,439,839. Similar pistons are also utilized in cylindrical cartridges providing for mixing of two or more components contained in the cartridge and subsequent dispensing of the mixture, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,217,946; 3,188,057; 3,197,067; and 3,858,853. In these prior art cartridges, when the dispensing piston has moved the length of the tube and dispensed the fluid therein, the piston must be removed if the cartridge is to be reused. Most often, the cartridge is simply thrown away.
In applications where the contents of several cartridges are necessary to complete a job, for example when injecting a water excluding fluid into a splice of a large telephone cable, it would be advantageous to utilize the same cartridge for several fills of liquid if this could be readily accomplished. Removal and reuse of the piston has not proven to be desirable.